But did you know: Without an explanation of why the story was written, ‘we have, essentially, a puff piece about a Nazi sympathizer’(Quartz)
“What’s problematic about the story, ultimately, is not that it humanizes a man with repugnant views — he is, of course, a human,” Indrani Sen writes on the story. “It’s the lack of any explanation to the reader of why exactly this story exists, and what the writer expects the reader to glean from it. Without that we have, essentially, a puff piece about a Nazi sympathizer. … These are dangerous times, and we must hold our best journalists to high standards. This article failed to meet those standards.”

Headline testing can improve an article’s performance by almost 80 percent, Chartbeat says (Digital Content Next)
“A headline should not only entice readers to click and see more; it should drive consumption of a story,” Chartbeat’s chief marketing officer Terri Walter writes on the art of crafting a good headline. Chartbeat’s data shows that headline testing can improve an article’s performance by 78 percent. “While gut instinct around language matters, technology can enhance that ability to find the right fit between content and audience. This, in turn, can dramatically improve engagement with content,” Walter writes.

One of Italy’s biggest alternative media networks is spreading misinformation and anti-immigrant news on Facebook(BuzzFeed News)
A massive network of Italian news sites and Facebook pages called Web365 are spreading misinformation and anti-immigrant stories on Facebook, Alberto Nardelli and Craig Silverman writes. The network “sheds a light on the overlap between the fringe underbelly of the Catholic world, Italy’s nationalist movements, and for-profit clickbait,” Nardelli and Silverman writes. The media network, which is owned by Rome entrepreneur Giancarlo Colono, includes some of Italy’s most popular Facebook pages and publishes content ranging from “viral clickbait and quick takes on the day’s headlines to misleading or alarmist stories about tragic events and hyperpartisan pieces about immigration that echo nationalist and Islamophobic rhetoric.”

Jack Shafer: Reader revenue comes with its own set of ethical considerations (Politico Magazine)
Last week, The New York Times sent subscribers a letter from Nicholas Kristof, appealing to subscribers to continue supporting NYT. That letter, Jack Shafer argues, unveils some ethical issues news organizations need to grapple with as they become more dependent on reader revenue. One of those considerations, Shafer writes, is journalists acting as marketers, as Kristof does in his letter: “The best way for Times journalists to show appreciation to readers is to produce indispensable coverage and analysis, not to call attention to themselves with belabored thank-you notes,” Shafer writes.

After pivoting to video, Mic’s unique visitors dropped by 78% (Splinter News)
At its peak in December 2015, Mic brought in 21 million unique visitors. But after “pivoting to video” earlier this year, Mic’s traffic dropped to 4.6 million unique visitors in September. “What staffers describe as a headlong shift in strategy reflects how Mic, branded as a bellwether of wokeness for young people, is coming to grips with an inhospitable media environment in which outside investors’ patience is wearing thin,” David Uberti writes on the shift. “Venture-backed startups like Vice, BuzzFeed, Vox, and others have increasingly thrown money into video production in the hope of capturing ad revenue on Facebook and capitalizing on the disruption of the traditional TV business. Neither has yet to materialize to an extent that can sustain expensive accountability journalism.”

The smart way to start your day

Each morning we scour the web for fresh useful insights in our Need to Know newsletter. Sign up below.